NP8660/M860TU Questions *POST HERE*

Now that the notebook has been released for pre-order, I've started experimenting with builds on the xoticpc website (it's not up on sager's till later today I guess)

I was noticeing the video card options though. I was under the impression that it was going to have the Nvidia 8800 GTX, but on the website that's not listed as an option.. instead it has 9800GTS and 9800GT (As well as the ATI HD3870 which doesn't ship till late august)

What I was wondering is how do the 9800GTS and GT compare to the 8800GTX? and how come it's not available now?

 

Check Paladin's post here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=272600&page=12

Hope this helps.

Petrov.

 

As Petrov said refer to Paladin's post on it. The 8800GTX is supposed to be = to the 9800M GT. The 9800M GTS is expected to be slightly less in performance to the 9800M GT.

 

For anybody else curious:

But how much lower is the performance... is it worth the $60? I'm assuming yes.. but I figure I'm not the only curious person here.

 

I'm going to hijack your thread and turn it into the "NP8660/M860TU Questions" thread since there is bound to be a lot of them.

 

lol, how useful Chaz.


My own question: DDR3 RAM vs DDR2
The wiki article for Montevina says that it supports

Given the prices of DDR3 RAM, would it be feasible to install 4GB of DDR2 RAM on the NP8660? (Yes, I know I need a x64 OS to fully address it)

Are there significant gains with DDR3 RAM over DDR2 specifically with respect to gaming? I do a bit of light photoshop, but no posters or anything like that so I don't mind waiting a few seconds for my filters to apply, etc.

 

Is the Intel Robson memory going to create any kind of performance boost if you already have 4 GB of ram? =P

How much cooler will the 9800 GTS run than the GT? Is there a big size/weight difference between them? Apparently performance wise they are set apart by about 10-15% (Citing another NBR thread).

And finally, What, in detail, is new about the Intel 5300 Wifi platform?

 

What's the difference in these:

~ 2,048MB DDR3 1066MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS)

~ 2,048MB DDR3 1066MHz Dual Channel Memory (1 SODIMM)

2 SODIMMS is using both RAM Slots so you can't expand it, and 1 SODIMM is using one RAM slot giving you the option to add a 2nd peice of RAM at a later date?

 

That's correct. The 2 SODIMMS option will make your RAM work as "Dual Channel Memory".

 

ZOMG. Where the expertz R?

 

When I customized it, I hit a snag. I have 2 options.
If I get the 9800 GTS, I can get the 2.4 Ghz processor.
If I get the 9800 GT, I can get the 2.26 Ghz processor.

My questions are,
How does the processor speed effect my laptop, and is it that important? Can I just go with the GT and 2.26, or is the processor more important than I think?
And what about the ATI card? Is it worth waiting for and is it that good? Could I select the ATI to get a higher processor speed and would it be worth it? I'm a hardcore gamer with limited cash!

 

What's the difference in these?
~Intel® T9400 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.53GHz w/6MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 35 watt

~Intel® P9500 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.53GHz w/6MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 25 watt

I realize that they have different model names and one is 25 watt and the other is 35 watt... but I don't know what the difference in wattage means in this context. Otherwise the cards are the same.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=272766

 

is the m860TU the replacement of the D901c

 

The 9262 is still up and going. The 860TU is a new model and not affiliated with the 9262 (D901C)

I will see if I get can some more detailed info on the CPU differences and will update this thread.

 

????? thats not right...

 

Haha - i think Justin must be as tired as the bloke looks in his picture...

Petrov.

 

Specially if you are gaming it is best to go with a better GPU and a slower CPU. This will provide the best performance. The ATI card is expected to be somewhere in the area of a 8800GT or 8800GTS. We will know more once they are released and we are able to benchmark.

EDIT: Sorry guys, Didn't sleep more then a couple hours last night. Fixed that above post......

 

is it worth it though? like does having dual channel memory make a significant difference.
cause if not, ill like to have a slot free getting 2gigs in 1 sodimms for future upgrades ya know?

 

I think someone said it's like a ~5% increase

 

The difference would be very minimal, I believe. But for the sake of upgradeability to 4GB RAM later by adding another 2GB SODIMM, it would be worth it, unless you get 4GB RAM now itself.

 

do you think it is worth it to upgrade the sound card from Sound Blaster to Creative Sound Blaster Xi-fi surround 5.1 for $100>???

 

I got the Creative X-Fi card, and it is totally worth it!!

 

Wouldn't this upgrade only be useful if you plan on hooking your laptop up to a 5.1 surround sound external speaker system? If you plan on running primarily off the built in speakers of headphones, this upgrade would be pointless?

 

Is the M860TU casing metal or plastic?

 

Well, I use headphones a lot more than internal or external speakers. The sound card boosts the max volume much MUCH more without tearing, and provides much superior sound quality. Also, there's a very slight increase in gaming performance.

 

Justin is right, go for the fastest graphics card you can afford. The processor doesn't make that much of a difference in games, it will not be the bottleneck. You need SLI video cards to bottleneck a Core 2 Duo.

I'm not sure what the performance difference is on the Montevina platform, but the Core 2's problem has never been memory bandwidth. You won't have any problems using single-channel memory. I'd recommend 4GB of RAM - it's more than enough for now and will future-proof the notebook somewhat.

Integrated sound has improved greatly over the years, and in the more recent Sagers I have tested, it is great. I would not get the card to start, and if you're unsatisfied with the sound, get an external sound card. Creative does not make the best sound cards . . . the only advantage with the X-Fi is that it fits in the ExpressCard slot.

 

Aluminium

(10 chars)

 

I noticed tat a lot of people were going for the 1 year parts/ 3 years labor warranty... is Clevo really that dependable, or is it just more cost efficient to go that way?

 

From what I've seen on this forum, Clevo is generally pretty dependable, and if problems are going to occur they usually crop up pretty quickly, and generally within the first year. Beyond that, the problems that arise typically seem to relate to the components themselves such as hard drives, which Clevo does not manufacture so those problems are of the sort that you would have with any manufacturer, not just Clevo, and in terms of warranty coverage, you just have to make your own cost/benefit analysis of the risk whether, for example, the Western Digital hdd you get is going to fail within the first three years, and whether the cost of replacing it is going to be more, or less, than the cost of the 3-year parts warranty (generally, if the only thing that fails is a hdd, paying for the replacement part yourself will most likely be cheaper than the up-front cost of a 3-year parts warranty).

 

What's different about the Montiniva from the processor which is replaces?

 

supposed lower power consumption and lower heat.

 

Power consumption is the main aspect; Montevina uses less power. And it is also said that they perform a bit better.

 

In addition to the above,

Also faster FSB.
Penryn = 800MHz FSB
Montevina - 1066MHz FSB

 

What badging does the NP8660 come with standard? Is it possible to order it without any?

 

Is there anybody here who is going with TWO operating systems on the new Clevo? There's an option for this on the Kobalt computers customization page. I just wondered why having two operating systems would be useful, and why people choose this.

If you are one of these people, which two OS did you go for and why?

 

VMWare?

 

some people want to be able to do different tasks on different OS's, or perhaps they have certain programs that only run on certain operating systems.

One very noticable use for this, is running linux and windows.
Some people prefer to use linux whenever possible because its more maliable and not prone to viruses, but in a world dominated by microsoft, its necessary to have windows if they want to run popular programs that dont have linux compatability. Everyone has their own reasons.

 

Justin, I still can't decide whether I should buy the laptop lol. Oh and please update the thread when you hear about the performance differences between P9500 and T9500.

I'm looking at this and the 2096, it's a $500 difference for the same configuration except it would have a 9600m GT instead of a 9800m GT. I know it's a huge difference but I don't know if I'll need all that as I'm not that much of a PC gamer.

 

Kobalt offer a Matt, Satin, or Gloss finish, which has thrown me a bit as more choice means more deciding instead of buying!
I was just wondering if anybody knows where I can view examples of the difference between a Satin and a Gloss finish notebook? I'm assuming that Satin is a nice compromise between Matt and Gloss?

 

What is the thickness and weight of the notebook?

 

Its on xotic and pnbs website under the specifications

 

is the 2GB with vista going to be a bottleneck in games?

weight it 7.05 pounds, forgot the dimensions though. its in another thread though and on the sager website.

 

I have a RAM related question:

How much does dual-channel matter performance wise?

Say I've got 2x2GB DDR3 (which 32bit OS is not going to address, but 3Gb) vs 1x2GB and 1x1GB DDR3.

Is there any difference performance wise between the two?

 

i got question choosing cpu on NP8660 and Np9262
for NP8660 i thinking getting P9500 CPU
but i saw NP9262 offer higher CPU
how different does that make Between q6700 2.66 GHz Vs P9500 2.53 GHz?

 

hi i have a question im new to the forum =] i was planning on buying an alienware m15x not untill i seen how much money i can save and how much better preformance i can get for less and im guessing from what i heard they build good quality notebooks unlike alienware ive heard so many bad stories and i dont want to be one of them so i decided to buy the NP8660 but i have one question i asked in xoticpc when will they be shipping the NP8660 they told me they would be shipping them late july or Early August
"Justin W: As stated above: the 8660 isn't expected to be released until Late July / Early August"
and they also said something else about them recieveing the notebooks from sager
"Justin W: Our corporate headquarters are located in Nebraska. The Sager notebooks will ship from our production plant in CA"
ok so now here is my question in the official site of sager is it the same thing are they still waiting to get the notebooks from clevo and only doing preorders right now and ship them later or do they have the notebooks alredy and are shipping them off alredy?
hopefully some one helps me here thank you =].

 

I'm pretty sure it's the same everywhere...most likely early august they will start shipping regardless of where you order from.

Of course.. if you order from Alienware... you'll probably be waiting at least 6 weeks instead of 2 before they ship.

 

thank you so much well i guess i should just wait and see if things change before i preorder it you think thats a smart idea? i also want to know if the 64bit vista ultimate is worth it or should i stick with the 32bit?
and should i waist my money on the operating system when i have it but i have the 32-bit vista ultimate tell me what you think
i also want to know if i shoul order it from the sager website is more expensive i think by like 150$ or 200$ or should i order from xoticpc can u tell me what would be the differance and where you think i should order it this will be my first time ordering a laptop from sager or xoticpc give me your oppinon

 

Order from whoever gives the best price/warranty.

The reason for getting the 64bit Vista is if you ever plan on having 4+gigs of ram in particular (There may be other reasons, but that's the main one I know of). If you only have 1-3 gigs of ram and never plan on getting more, the 32bit will serve you fine. The 32bit can't handle a full 4gigs though.. it will still work, it just won't utilize all the ram you paid for. If you're okay with that.. get the 32.. if you want optimal performance with 4+ gigs of ram.. then get the 64bit.

 

Anyone know power brick dimension/weight?